2020 ANNUAL REVIEW - DIGITALOCEAN
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Annual Review 2020
Annual Review 2020 Contents Chair Review 3 COO Review 4 Financial Review 6 Working With Government To Keep Playing Safe 8 Launch Of The World Handicap System 9 Using Technology 11 Performance Player Pathway 13 Golf Club Membership Grows 14 New Junior Golf Platform Drives The Future 16 Focusing On Our Members 17
Scottish Golf Annual Review 2020 3
A Year Of Challenge
And Support
Welcome to the Scottish Golf 2020 Annual Review;
an unprecedented year in the history of our organisation.
We are in unprecedented, remarkable income streams that will be reinvested amalgamation has been driven by the
times. Since March 2020 we have all to support the growth of the game desire to build a strong, sustainable
been reminded how important the across the country. legacy for the future of the game.
wonderful game of golf is in our lives.
We have learnt how much we, as In November, we implemented one of I pay tribute to each of those directors,
individuals, appreciate the golfing the largest changes to handicapping 15 in all, and I thank them for their
communities that we are part of, and the game of golf has ever seen as we courage and their unity of purpose.
how much the camaraderie offers us embraced the new World Handicap I have so enjoyed working with each of
personally through good times and bad. System (WHS), which will help us them individually and collectively as an
achieve a number of our goals. utterly committed and united team.
The past 12 months have been
challenging and for many harrowing. The progress we have made as a sport Finally, I would also like to pay special
To all our members and employees who is a testament to the work of everyone thanks to the team at Scottish Golf,
have lost someone dear through these involved in our game. From club for their hard work and commitment
times, we offer our deepest sympathies. employees to committee volunteers, throughout the past 6 years. I will
you have all risen to the challenges and always have very fond memories of
At a time when businesses worldwide tackled them head-on, working day the camaraderie that came, as it so
faced extraordinarily difficult and night to ensure that our great game often does, with the grit, determination
circumstances, I am extremely proud was one of the first sports to resume and endeavour of a great team of
of the speed at which the Scottish Golf following the lockdown. exceptionally talented people, even in
team acted to reassess our financial the most challenging of circumstances.
position and reprioritise activity. The Your commitment, passion and love I leave Scottish Golf under the excellent
outcome of this review was being able for the game is unrivalled and as an stewardship of Karin Sharp and
to provide support to our affiliated industry in Scotland, we have been Iain Forsyth.
clubs both financially, by rebating 25% able to benefit from the playing of golf
of our affiliation fees, and practically, uninterrupted, since 29 May, throughout It gives me great pleasure to know
through regular COVID-19 updates to the easing of restrictions. For that, that Scottish Golf will be in safe hands
provide advice and up to the minute we are all truly grateful. as Martin Gilbert, one of Scotland’s
guidance based on the latest Government best-known business figures, is set
Being the Chair of Scottish Golf has been to become Chair at this year’s Annual
restrictions.
an immense privilege. As your inaugural General Meeting.
Throughout my time as Chair, we have Board we accepted the mandate to
been working on a variety of long-term transform the health of the game of Martin has been a prominent supporter of
growth initiatives which support the golf in Scotland. golf in Scotland for over 20 years, firstly
organisation’s vision of Making Golf through Aberdeen Asset Management and
You may recall that the backdrop to this latterly Aberdeen Standard Investments.
Scotland’s Game For Everyone and 2020
was a game that had lost 5,000 members This is a tremendous coup for golf in
was a big year of implementation as we
a year for the preceding 10 years and the Scotland and the entire game should be
saw a number of these plans come to life.
impact that this had on club membership delighted that Martin, whose passion
More golf clubs benefitted from early income. This was exacerbated by and support for the sport are very widely
adoption of our Venue Management declining visitor income, fuelled mainly known, has agreed to take on this role.
System (VMS), which offered clubs by the downward pressure on pricing
from the tee-booking systems model.
Eleanor Cannon
and their members a COVID-19-secure
platform to deliver their business with
Addressing these challenges has not
integrated online tee-booking and mobile,
been easy, and change has been tough,
contactless scoring. In time, this will also Eleanor Cannon,
but each of the Board members since
enable Scottish Golf to generate new Chair, Scottish Golf
Scottish Golf Annual Review 2020 4
2020: A Year
Unlike Any Other
2020 was a year that none of us could have imagined, but one
in which as an organisation I feel that we acted decisively to the
challenges of COVID-19 to support our affiliated clubs, while also
continuing our efforts to make golf Scotland’s Game For Everyone.
When the people of Scotland were the position and worked for the benefit stakeholders at Area, County and Club
asked on 23 March 2020 to restrict their of our membership. level. I have been greatly encouraged
movement through a national lockdown, by the engagement through zoom calls
this saw dramatic changes to how we With on-course events forced into a with our key members and industry
operated as an organisation, with our temporary pause, our attention turned to colleagues, which provided regular and
staff asked to work remotely with addressing the impact on our clubs and constructive dialogue on a wide range
immediate effect. the communities in which they serve. of topics.
As it became apparent that the national We took an early decision on 9 April to I am very proud with the way in which
lockdown and restrictions would be with cancel all performance programmes Scottish Golf has supported our members
us for a prolonged period, we opted to and national events for the 2020 season throughout the year both financially and
use the Government’s Coronavirus Job and to channel the funds allocated to practically, with a significantly increased
Retention Scheme with half of the staff these activities to support our affiliated level of communications to ensure all our
team being placed on furlough between clubs through the pandemic. This was affiliated clubs were best placed to get
the months of April and November. considered a bold move by many at the through the pandemic. A snapshot of
time. However with restrictions being these achievements are covered in the
Whilst this undoubtedly placed a strain something we all had to learn to live with following pages.
on those who remained working during for the remainder of the year, this did
Karin Sharp
this period, including adapting to new prove to be a wise decision.
responsibilities, the commitment shown
from all of the team was outstanding. During 2020, we focussed on building
Despite the challenges these changes stronger partnerships within the golf
created, I would like to thank each of the industry and across the sporting sector Karin Sharp,
team for the way in which they accepted to ensure we cater to the needs of our Chief Operating Officer, Scottish Golf
Scottish Golf Annual Review 2020/21 xx Making Golf Scotland’s Game For Everyone
Scottish Golf Annual Review 2020 6 Financial Review Income Expenditure Total Income 2019-20 Total Expenditure 2019-20 £4,050,487 £4,068,837 Surplus/(Loss) Reserves Total Surplus/(Loss) 2019-20 Total Reserves 2019-20 £(18,350) £1,191,336 Income Breakdown Expenditure Breakdown • Subscriptions contribution down from 61% to 44% • Club Support increased from 44% to 57% due to the 25% affiliation rebate for 2019-20. due to the R&A grant funding paid to clubs. • Other Income contribution rose from 7% to 27% due • Performance decreased from 21% to 10% due to the £685k grant from the R&A which was distributed to to cancellation of remaining performance activity. clubs, and the money received through the furlough grant. • Events income was 0% due to early cancellation of the full events schedule.
Scottish Golf Annual Review 2020 7 Financial Review COVID-19 Emergency Funding Support to Clubs Total Financial Support Funding Support Breakdown issued to our affiliated clubs £1,265,145 Affiliation Fee Rebate To support our affiliated clubs through the pandemic, on 7 May, Scottish Golf led the way in the UK and announced a 25% rebate on 2019/20 affiliation fees, representing a grant of £580,145. This support was immediately made available with the average processing time between the application and the payment to clubs being just two working days. Scottish Golf would like to thank the 12 clubs of varying sizes that opted to donate their affiliation fee rebate to the Scottish Golf Club Relief Fund, enabling us to use those funds to support other clubs. In addition, we offered extended payment terms to all golf clubs for payment of the annual affiliation invoice. This proved popular and we have continued this service into the current financial year. R&A Club Relief Fund & COVID-19 Fixed Cost Grant On 29 June, the R&A invested £685,000 to Scottish golf clubs through Scottish Golf which consisted of two elements – a £500 Fixed Cost grant and a Club Relief Fund. A total of 354 clubs applied for and received the £500 COVID-19 fixed cost grant totalling £173,340. 163 clubs were recipients of the Club Relief Fund receiving a total of £512,560 allocated. In total 370 of our affiliated clubs received funding from one or both of the R&A Club Relief Fund. The deadline for applications was 24 July and once applications were approved, all grants were paid to the clubs within an average of four working days from receipt of bank details. I would like to put on record my thanks to all the staff at Scottish Golf that worked tirelessly to process all the funding applications and payments in such a short space of time.
Scottish Golf Annual Review 2020 8
Working With Government
To Keep Playing Safe
The challenges posed by COVID-19 Scottish Government confidence in our
are complex and have impacted almost ability to ensure golf could be played
every part of our day-to-day lives, from safely. Despite the changes in national
health to the economy, to our mental and and local restrictions, Scotland are in the
physical wellbeing. We know that our enviable position of being the only UK
game spans all these areas in Scotland nation that has continued to enjoy
and contributes significantly to both the playing golf since 29 May 2020.
nation’s health and the economy.
This collaboration also resulted in us
Throughout the year Scottish Golf being able to issue timely updates to our
has been in constant contact with COVID-19 guidelines for our affiliated
our partners at sportscotland and the clubs as the Government updated their
Scottish Government on the return to restrictions and advice, thus ensuring
golf and keeping it safe for everyone. clubs could stay open and keep their
members safe.
This collaborative approach gave
“
sportscotland, Active Scotland and the
While it has undoubtedly been a difficult time
for everyone connected with Scottish sport,
Scottish Golf has shown a real resilience in
responding to the challenges presented by the
pandemic. Thanks to its strong leadership and
close partnerships with sportscotland and the
Scottish Government, Scottish Golf has been at
the forefront of the return to sport programme,
working tirelessly to represent its members.
This approach has ensured that golf courses
have remained open for much of the pandemic,
helped in no small part by the patience and
commitment of golfers and golf clubs across
the country, who have played their part by
continuing to adhere to the latest public
health guidance. We still have some way to go
before the pandemic is firmly behind us but by
continuing to work collaboratively, Scottish Golf
will ensure that its members continue to enjoy
the sport they love.
“
Stewart Harris,
Chief Executive, sportscotland
Scottish Golf Annual Review 2020 9
Successful Launch Of The
World Handicap System
In addition to the other challenges of Enquiries Responded To
2020, we also successfully launched
WHS, golf’s new handicapping system
which came into effect on 2 November Social Media
1,655
2020 in the UK.
For a number of years leading up to this
date, Scottish Golf has worked tirelessly
to prepare for the transition, with course
rating activity delivered over a number
of years to ensure that all our affiliated
clubs had the appropriate ratings ready Website
8,284
for WHS.
In early 2020 we switched the Central
Database of Handicaps to a new platform,
doing this before the main playing season
commenced to minimise disruption for
our member clubs.
A host of education support for golf clubs
then continued through the year, with Hive WHS Section
seminars, webinars, resource material
sent to clubs, newsletters and other
channels all well utilised across the year. Active Users
409
We are extremely proud that we were
ready for the launch and our system was
live at 4am on 2 November. Inevitably,
with a transition of such magnitude
between systems that had stored data in
differing formats, there were some data Card Views
24,500
challenges, but we worked tirelessly to
ensure that club officials understood
the reasons and were given the tools
to correct data where necessary.
We are pleased to report that our WHS
system is fully functional and working
entirely as expected, with early volumes Comments Since Launch (Aug 20)
3,700
showing 30,000 scores processed in
the first four weeks.
30,000 scores processed in the first four weeks after WHS launch
Scottish Golf Annual Review 2020/21 11
Using Technology
Scottish Golf started investing in Communicating With Zoom
technology in October 2018 and
As the pandemic progressed, we
since then has seen the gradual
introduced Zoom Panel Call webinars
introduction of our Venue
for golf clubs to hear direct from
Management System, Scottish Golf
experts on COVID-19 Advice, WHS,
App and Hive learning platform.
HR, Legal Advice, Social Marketing,
Through 2020, we also started using Visitor Marketing, Retaining Members,
Zoom to interact with our affiliated Kickstart Scheme, VMS and the Scottish
clubs, through webinars, meetings Golf App. Over 192 clubs engaged with
and, of course, the hosting of our the webinars with 2,154 attendees and
Annual General Meeting. over 13,000 views online post the event.
Having proved so successful we
intend to continue with this channel
of communication in 2021.
Venue Management System
In summary, our investment in technology
We have had a successful start to
is paying dividends. It has enabled
the roll out of VMS with almost 400
clubs to streamline their administration
clubs presented to and 237 clubs
processes, improved club marketing
configured on the system at various
communications via the App and allowed
stages of deployment.
our membership to communicate with
VMS enables clubs to manage each other. Technology has enabled us
every aspect of their business from to engage directly with all our audiences
memberships, tee sheets, door entry and this will only continue in the future.
and online booking to handicaps,
In any regular year the successful launch
competitions and live scoring based
of a software platform for all golf clubs
around market leading software in
in Scotland would have been a major
the cloud.
highlight. To have done this in the face
VMS also provided the first digital of a national health crisis and the launch
scorecard to offer contactless scoring of a new handicapping system shows
and submission that fully complies the efforts that have been made by the
with the rules of golf and handicapping. Scottish Golf team behind the scenes.
Given the likelihood of a continuing
need for contactless operations,
this is a significant benefit. Hive Learning – A New Home
For Scottish Golf Education
Clubs already using VMS have expressed
their satisfaction with the system, Hive, our new learning platform is the third
particularly with the integration between element of our investment in technology.
membership subscription and other Hive is our central education platform
office administration functions. for all affiliated clubs to access Scottish
Golf resources and to interact with other
We have also been commended for clubs to share best practices. There are
managing the migration work and currently over 500 club officials registered
providing 24/7 support, thus making on Hive and since it was launched on
transfer from existing systems simple 10 August, there have been over 35,000
for the club administrators. interactions, both peer to peer and with
Scottish Golf staff. We will continue to
VMS allows the club to determine
develop Hive to become the central
who sees information regarding their
database for all our education and
competitions, which is of particular
online support resources.
benefit when clubs wish to promote
open competitions to non-members.Scottish Golf Annual Review 2020 12
Using Technology
Scottish Golf App
148,000
The customer facing front end of VMS is delivered principally
through the Scottish Golf App. This enables every club member
in Scotland to view their handicap, submit General Play scores
and get the latest news from Scottish Golf.
Our App is another success story with 148,000 registered
registered users of the App to date
users out of a total of 190,000 golf club members in Scotland.
In the first four weeks after the WHS launch 6,000 General
6,000
Play scores were processed through the Scottish Golf App,
demonstrating an excellent early take up by golfers.
For clubs using VMS, the App also enables their members
to receive Club News, book tee times, enter competitions,
submit scores and book social events, all in a digital and General Play scores processed in the
socially distanced way. first four weeks after app launchScottish Golf Annual Review 2020 13
Performance
Player Pathway
“
We are delighted that Paul Lawrie
and Catriona Matthew agreed to join
our Performance Programme. With their By working together and utilising all of the
help we are revising the operation of
our performance programme and player golfing experience we have in this country, we
pathway so we can further develop can help our talented young golfers achieve
and improve our elite players and
ensure resources are being allocated
most effectively.
In 2021 players in the top tier of our
performance programme will have
exclusive access to Paul and Catriona
who will help them prepare physically
their goals. However, it is equally important to
look to the longer term and ensure our best
golfers continue to get the support that they
need as the sport itself changes and develops.
Paul Lawrie
“
“
and mentally for competitive golf at the
highest level. Very few people know what
it is like standing over a three-foot putt
to win a major Championship – but that
experience and knowledge is part of
what Paul and Catriona will bring as
part of their role in our programme. The game has given me so much over
the years and I hope that by sharing
my experience, and mentoring the next
generation, I can give something back.
Catriona Matthew
“Scottish Golf Annual Review 2020 14
Golf Club Membership Grows
One of the positives to have emerged This increase in club membership is
from the pandemic is that, for the first great news for our affiliated clubs and
time since 2015, we have seen an we urge all our clubs to engage fully to
increase in club membership. Our 568 ensure those members can be retained
affiliated clubs saw a 6.1% increase in as we head into a prolonged period of
playing members (adults and juniors) of economic uncertainty.
10,920, with total playing membership
of 190,777. There were seven clubs
reporting over 100% increase in
playing membership from 2019-20.
6.1%
increase in playing
100%
increase in playing
members in affiliate clubs membership in seven clubs
Membership Breakdown
179,857
Playing Membership (Total)
190,777
164,356
Adult Membership (Total)
174,255
143,205
Adult Membership (Male)
152,641
21,151
Adult Membership (Female)
21,614
15,501
Junior Membership (Total)
16,522
12,966
Junior Membership (Male)
13,903
2019 - 20
2,535
Junior Membership (Female)
2,619 2020 - 2110,920 increase in total number of playing memberships (adults and juniors)
Scottish Golf Annual Review 2020 16
New Junior Golf Platform
Drives The Future
During 2020 we developed a new platform As part of the Junior Golf Platform,
which will be released in 2021. This new we also have some new and exciting
Junior Golf Platform, available to all junior events for clubs to get involved
affiliated clubs, will provide an extensive with. These include the National Junior
range of programmes, events, resources Skills Challenge and the Scottish
and opportunities from across junior Junior Flag Championship, which will
golf in Scotland. be delivered in partnership with the
Paul Lawrie Foundation, the Stephen
The platform will also host our new Gallacher Foundation and the Junior
coaching programme, Learn to Golf. Flag Challenge.
This will provide coaches and volunteers
with innovative tools and resources We are also looking forward to rolling
to make planning their programmes out the hugely popular GolfSixes
quicker, easier and more enjoyable. Leagues in 2021.Scottish Golf Annual Review 2020 17
Focusing On Our Members
Obviously, none of us know what 2021 holds
and at this time we are simply grateful that golf is
continuing to be played. We hope that the golfing
year ahead will be one more recognisable to us all
and we have planned for a full schedule of events
and a return of performance activity from the spring.
Subject to COVID-19 restrictions, we shall So, to summarise, 2020 was an
review on a regular basis the likelihood of incredibly tough year, but one in which
these events taking place and will ensure we delivered significant improvements
that we keep all stakeholders appraised in our focused services to our members.
of any changes or cancellations that 2021 will be about continuing to build on
we might require to make on a monthly these improvements and to support our
basis to ensure we can comply with all affiliated clubs no matter what happens.
government guidance.
On behalf of everyone at Scottish Golf,
My commitment for 2021 is that Scottish I would like to take this opportunity to
Golf will continue to do everything we express our sincere gratitude to everyone
can to support our membership. We will involved in our game. We have all faced
continue to develop our technology to one of the most challenging years in our
ensure the maximum possible benefits lives, but the spirit shown across our
that the new digital landscape has wonderful game has been truly heartening
presented to us and we will continue to see. It is this spirit and integrity that will
to provide COVID-19 advice for as see our game continue to flourish in 2021
long as that is required. as we look to roll out several exciting new
initiatives that will continue to progress
Education will also continue to be an the game of golf in its spiritual home.
important part of our member services as
we develop Hive further and we will keep
the level of openness and communication
high through Zoom webinars and Karin Sharp,
newsletters to all members. Chief Operating Officer, Scottish Golf
“ So, to summarise, 2020 was an incredibly tough
year, but one in which we delivered significant
improvements in our focused services to our
members. 2021 will be about continuing to build
on these improvements and to support our
“
affiliated clubs no matter what happens.You can also read
